# SHOCKER! Things work differently in the movies. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778 "2016-05-03T14:42:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![stosh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@stosh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stosh)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/161 "2016-05-08T22:48:41Z")
Whenever you have a group of people, no matter if they are good guys or bad guys, there is one white guy, a grizzled old vet., a black guy, a Latino guy and a woman in black leather who can kick all their asses. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/162 "2016-05-08T23:30:21Z")
I haven’t seen this one yet, sorry if I missed it… Nail guns don’t shoot nails like bullets. They have a safety mechanism to prevent that. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/163 "2016-05-09T00:40:27Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > …so, _the Matrix_ and all notwithstanding, your car ain’t gonna fall. Au contraire, mon frere! That’s only true for cabled elevators. Hydraulic elevators can have cylinders and endcaps made of dissimilar metals and welded together. Corrosion can cause the endcap to blow off under pressure, and the car drops like a rock. In the mid-90s we started selling the first brake for hydraulics. > [@msmith537](#): > > I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ER that was a constant madhouse flurry of activity and beeping lights like you see on TV. ERs, even on Saturday nights, tend to be deadly boring. > [@Gatopescado](#): > > Bad guy’s cars, however, are exceptional! Old Soviet-era Skodas are able to keep pace with Aston Martins on twisty mountain roads. Right up till they explode for no apparent reason. No apparent reason? They’re SKODAS. Isn’t that reason enough? > [@from\_a\_to\_z](#): > > James Bond romps with Pussy Galore in [the hay](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMOYOqV08Fs). And it cured her lesbianism! > [@bengangmo](#): > > I’ve never yet seen a “stop” button in an elevator. When I started in elevators the “pull to stop” button was just catching on. Too many accidental elbow nudges, both on TV and IRL. It saddened me. ---
**Author:** ![btcg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@btcg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/btcg)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/164 "2016-05-09T02:08:28Z")
If your friend is shot… don’t worry: the last scene will feature him ripping off his coat to reveal a bullet-proof vest that protected him all-along. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/165 "2016-05-09T02:45:51Z")
> [@btcg](#): > > If your friend is shot… don’t worry: the last scene will feature him ripping off his coat to reveal a bullet-proof vest that protected him all-along. Some movie ought to have that, and then the bullet-proof vest gets ripped off to reveal that it was defective and the bullet did penetrate. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/166 "2016-05-09T07:59:23Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > In TV and movies no one has screens on their house windows. Try that in real life, and you wind up with a house full of bugs or stop opening your windows. And yet, the only place I’ve ever seen screens on house windows is in TV shows and movies. They’re not a thing I’ve ever encountered in real life. Clearly, screens are usual in some places, but not others. A house lacking them in a movie would only be a problem if it was set in a location where it would be normal for it to have them. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/167 "2016-05-09T08:16:33Z")
> [@stosh](#): > > Whenever you have a group of people, no matter if they are good guys or bad guys, there is one white guy, a grizzled old vet., a black guy, a Latino guy and a woman in black leather who can kick all their asses. If there are two women, one will look like she doesn’t weigh more than 40 pounds (no missing figures) and the other one will have an uncanny resemblance to Michelle Rodriguez. The second one will die. IRL, neither Michelle Rodriguez nor Sean Bean have died due to their uncanny resemblances to themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/168 "2016-05-09T11:05:09Z")
Sprung by the baddies, our hero races through the restaurant kitchen, dragging the girl, and closely followed by gun-toting goons, who all make it through unscathed into the back alley. Maybe a tray of vegetables gets knocked aside but that it the limit of fatalities. I entered a large restaurant kitchen once, and had three knife-armed feral cooks corralling me before I got clear of the swinging door. They were not going to let anyone near their cabbages. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/169 "2016-05-09T11:17:25Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Sprung by the baddies, our hero races through the restaurant kitchen, dragging the girl, and closely followed by gun-toting goons, who all make it through unscathed into the back alley. Maybe a tray of vegetables gets knocked aside but that it the limit of fatalities. > > I entered a large restaurant kitchen once, and had three knife-armed feral cooks corralling me before I got clear of the swinging door. They were not going to let anyone near their cabbages. That happens in movies, too, but ONLY if it’s a Chinese restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/170 "2016-05-09T12:12:36Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Some movie ought to have that, and then the bullet-proof vest gets ripped off to reveal that it was defective and the bullet did penetrate. Blackadder Last episode of Blackadder the third: _PR: Erm! No, actually Baldrick, I’m not dead. You see I had a cigarillo box too, look. (rummages in his jacket) Oh damn, I must have left it on the dresser… (dies)_ ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/171 "2016-05-09T13:32:34Z")
You’d think by now that every one in the Star Trek universe would know not to wear a red shirt ever! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/172 "2016-05-09T14:28:04Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > It’s celery, dammit. > [@JRDelirious](#): > > But then you have to reinforce the elsatic in your drawers… Heh. +1 for the Art Frahm reference. ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/173 "2016-05-09T14:40:37Z")
If the machine is working, hitting or kicking it will do the trick! ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/174 "2016-05-09T14:46:45Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Also, cell phone reception in movies is exceptional, unless the plot requires it not to be, then it’s comically terrible where it shouldn’t be - like, say, Isla Nublar. Hell, even phone \*conversations \*work wonky at the movies. I guarantee that in real life, if a coworker phones you to relay some information and you dramatically snap your phone shut, you’ll get another call 30 seconds later from the same coworker asking what the fuck. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/175 "2016-05-09T15:12:00Z")
> [@Victor\_Charlie](#): > > Let’s stick with common devices and machines rather than scientific concepts and theories. Otherwise, we’ll devolve pretty quickly into an endless spectrum of things the movies get wrong. ~sigh~ I’ve seen a lot of these threads in the SDMB over the years. There are a few certainties; One is that someone will (if they haven’t already) mention a loaf of french bread sticking out of a grocery sack. Another one will say that [insert business name here] doesn’t really work that way, and it’s usually a lot calmer, or not as nearly exciting. To that I’d say geez buy into the story line a little bit. I agree that a stock market trading floor, or an emergency room ER, or a search & rescue mission, or a SWAT team descending on a building isn’t ALWAYS that frenetic; but that doesn’t mean the movie got it wrong. No one wants to watch a movie where the police are sitting around, where the only patients in an ER are someone trying to get pain pills or antibiotics… etc. In these threads I’d like to see is for video clip (or at least an example from a specific movie) along with the posts, where the movies got it wrong. I couldn’t tell you the last time I saw a movie with a loaf of bread sticking out of it and I thought “Gee that looks so out of place, I can’t watch this movie anymore.” Similarly I’m willing to hold on to the suspension of inaccuracies if it’s to move the story along. ---
**Author:** ![Smitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Smitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/176 "2016-05-09T15:19:35Z")
My personal bugaboo is shoulder injuries. Having badly torn a rotator cuff once, I can tell you that the arm in question largely ceases to function. I would imagine that the extra trauma of a gun shot wound to that area would prevent the recipient from raising and firing a weapon or throwing haymakers with the arm in question for some time. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/177 "2016-05-09T15:33:06Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Also the sprinkler system is not connected to the fire alarm system. Pulling the fire alarm will not automatically turn every sprinkler in the builder in. No business/school/etc in their right mind would ever install a system like that. Although the converse does happen. Sprinkler systems can (often?) have a flow sensor that activates the alarm when the sprinkler (deluge, really) goes off. That way, the Fire Dept gets called without human intervention, which could be important. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/178 "2016-05-09T15:43:22Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > Probably the last time I bought a baguette. I think maybe they were referring to the trope of a “naked” baguette sticking out of the bag. The loaf is in its own bag now. And if you bought a loaf of Cuban-style bread (in South Florida) there might be TWO ends sticking up - lotta people fold them in half to bag them, since they’re nearly three feet long. ---
**Author:** ![TheseGoToEleven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/848f3c/32.png) [@TheseGoToEleven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheseGoToEleven)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/179 "2016-05-09T15:54:47Z")
> [@MacLir](#): > > Although the converse does happen. Sprinkler systems can (often?) have a flow sensor that activates the alarm when the sprinkler (deluge, really) goes off. That way, the Fire Dept gets called without human intervention, which could be important. :dubious: I can vouch for this one. Woken up at 1:30 a.m. at a hotel in the Poconos when the fire alarm went off, and everyone was evacuated to the parking lot - evacuated in the middle of a frickin’ blizzard in our PJs, the entire population of the hotel huddled together like penguins until the FD gave the all clear. Quite a memorable event, and lots of unhappy customers when we were told that the reason was a burst pipe… ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778/180 "2016-05-09T16:03:14Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > I haven’t seen this one yet, sorry if I missed it… > Nail guns don’t shoot nails like bullets. They have a safety mechanism to prevent that. Too easily overcome, unfortunately. DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME! It can be held closed with a finger or a bit of duct tape, which allows the user to send a nail a couple of hundred feet downrange. Or into the finger holding back the interlock. :eek: Another popular trick is to tape the trigger so that the interlock acts as the “trigger” and fires a nail whenever the gun is pressed down to the surface. Or dropped on your foot … :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shocker-things-work-differently-in-the-movies/753778.md?page=10)